“Recently, Carolyn and I spent some time in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon, frequently described as the Swiss Alps of the Northwest.

“It was a busman’s holiday, whatever a busman is, but I was there to judge the regional art festival, and in between the actual judging, the evening reception, and hours of talking to artists about their work (which I enjoy, very much) Carolyn and I hiked the area, absorbed the silence, and, in the evenings, watched episode after episode of Doc Martin.

“So we rested in between working, which is a very necessary element to working well. We slipped the vacation in with the work week.

Time to rest, reflect, and meditate. Queen Anne’s Lace, original and signed limited edition print at Steve Henderson Fine Art; licensed open edition fine art print at Great Big Canvas

“While it’s not every week that we are able to travel to a beautiful spot and enjoy its environs, we do manage to take a mini-vacation every week, by being insistent about taking one day, every week, completely off.

“In our case, it’s Sunday, simply because that is what works best for our family and our work schedule, but it really doesn’t matter what the day is, as long as we find one and take it off.

“Much as I love painting, I don’t paint that day, simply because my mind and body need a rest. I don’t do errands, fix fencing, or embark upon anything that resembles a chore or obligation. I am just as likely to find myself sitting in the hammock with a book as I am in the garden, pulling weeds and surveying my Kingdom of Green.

“In short, I rest.

“I am fortunate in that I can devote an entire day to this, but if I couldn’t (and there have been times in my life when this was so), I made sure to allot myself as long of a time as I could, each week, for this purpose.

“It’s not selfish. It’s not unreasonable. It’s not impossible.

Literally and figuratively, it’s important to leave the crowd and noise behind on a regular basis. Leave the Crowd Behind poster, based on Last Light in Zion, at Steve Henderson Fine Art

“But it is necessary. As necessary as plugging the phone into the charger and letting its battery recharge.”